Cyngor Gwynedd - Councillors Not Attending Safeguarding Training...

All officers and councillors of cyngor Gwynedd council have a responsibility to safeguard children. So it is disappointing to discover that many councillors have not been attending the safeguarding workshops arranged by the council.

The person with ultimate responsibility for safeguarding is the Director of Social Services. 
In 2019, when the teacher from Ysgol Friars raised concerns with Garem Jackson, the former head of education, regarding Neil Foden, the director was then Morwena Edwards. 

Edwards background was finance and her appointment was not universally supported. There was a belief that someone experienced in the social work field was needed to take charge of a service still recovering from the previous child abuse scandal.

The toxic culture under the former director, Lucille Hughes, did not disappear with her quitting the council. The social worker, Alison Taylor, who whistleblew on the abuse  -

Speaking later she said that Gwynedd County Council would not admit to having a problem. A wide-ranging report later described a “cult of silence” that had covered up the scandal...

The final straw came when a young boy in her care died, after a colleague sent him to a B&B to fend for himself.
Speaking sometime later, she described a chaotically run service, adding what she had seen and heard was only the tip of an iceberg.
https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gordon-anglesea-files-4-cult-12112990

In 2014, a new CEO was appointed. Dilwyn O Williams background was also finance and had worked for the council for many years even before the name change in 1996.

Also in 2014, arrests were made at Canolfan Brynffynnon after allegations of child cruelty. The case was dropped in 2016 after new evidence came to light and the CPS performed a deep dive of the evidence.

Despite claims of a malicious allegation, Gwynedd council remain silent on the affair and has even refused to answer a FOI request concerning the length of staff suspensions. An internal review was granted by the council's information office but the monitoring officer has failed (to date) to respond despite reminders from officers.

Then there were the multiple investigations by the Ombudsman for Wales finding against Gwynedd council and the SS departments in particular. One concluded that a care assessment for a child was predetermined to fail. A fake assessment undertaken simply to tick a box in an attempt to negate their duties. There are allegations that other 'assessments' undertaken by social workers were also predetermined to fail...

There was the case of the autistic adult stripped of support in a council care home. His treatment by the SS department was so bad it even made the Ombudsman's hall of shame casebook on human rights -
https://www.ombudsman.wales/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/104483-Equality-and-Human-Rights-Casebook_Eng_v03.pdf

For the Ombudsman to be approached, all of these families must first endure the SS complaints procedures. A Stage 1 complaint will usually mean meeting customer care officers with perhaps a senior manager present at the council offices. Such meetings are usually formal and can be intimidating. The senior complaints officer for the childrens department recently reported that more people asked for their complaint to be raised to a Stage 2 straight away. Past complainants can understand why...

The senior complaints officer used a recent report - that he would have helped to create - to defend the complaints officers. In typical Ffordd Gwynedd fashion, others are blamed. He mentions threats of violence against staff which are to be condemned - if true...

But the Ombudsman for Wales investigations tell a different story. They show disabled children denied their rights under law and families simply trying their best for their kids. One investigation shows senior officers interfered in a Stage 2 investigation and bullied the investigator. Three to four pages were deleted before the director finally accepted her report. 

A professor of Law at Leeds University wrote about the case -
https://www.lukeclements.co.uk/omg-will-it-never-end-2/

A reminder that the former chief executive was made to personally apologise to one family after their treatment by the childrens department and its complaints team. Not forgetting the failure of senior officers to comply with recommendations agreed to during investigations. An opportunity to hold the council to account was lost when the PSOW failed to impose a Section 22 special report notice.

The PSOW had issued such a report to Wrexham council after their CEO failed to comply and renaged on an agreement made. The penalty for Wrexham was imposed after a council tax demand was sent to a resident in english only. The PSOW acted after errors in communication were repeated.
https://www.ombudsman.wales/wrexham-county-borough-council-201708129/

Williams reported that the Ombudsman was outraged with Gwynedd council - (that would be the SS departments and their complaint officers in particular). Williams also claimed that all recommendations of the Ombudsman had been complied with 'bar a nuance'. This was not correct...

Even more evidence of misdirection by senior officers was revealed via an FOI request to the PSOW. All this resulted in the PSOW summoning Williams to Cardiff for a meeting that was described by the Ombudsman's office as 'not usual'.

A reminder that the PSOW changed its policies after its dealings with Gwynedd council and now require all councils to provide robust evidence of compliance with its recommendations.

All this at the same time the teacher from Ysgol Friars raised concerns about Neil Foden...
Then the pandemic hit...

Still under William's leadership, Gwynedd council received £55 million from Welsh Government to distribute to businesses in the county under the Covid-19 fund.

Then there was the council's partygate affair where an entire department had to self isolate after a staff night out. 

Followed by GwE and the inflated expenses scandal. As CEO, Williams should have called for an official investigation into the matter. He did not...

Willams then retired from the council in 2021 -
https://www.northwaleschronicle.co.uk/news/19011692.gwynedd-council-chief-executive-announces-will-step-spring/

The Head of Finance also left the council.

A few months later, the council received a final report concerning Canolfan Brynffynnon.

Morwena Edwards, director of SS, then quit the council.

During this time, the person with a legal responsibility for social services complaint handling was the Monitoring Officer. Gwynedd council recently changed the Constitution and that legal responsibility now lies with Ian Jones, the head of democratic services...

It is believed Gwynedd council have now employed a barrister to look into events of 2019 when Garem Jackson was first contacted by the whistleblower regarding Neil Foden. The council has yet to release the name of the safeguarding officer whose advice Jackson acted upon...

Something is so very wrong within Gwynedd council...

CEO Retires - What Next For Cyngor Gwynedd Council ?

The Chief Executive Officer of Cyngor Gwynedd council, Dilwyn Williams, has announced he is to retire at the end of this month.

Dilwyn O Williams was appointed CEO  in 2014, replacing Harry Thomas who had been in position since 2003.

Like Thomas, Mr Williams had worked for the council for many years, before the creation of the new unitary Gwynedd council and abolishment of the previous authority after the North Wales Child Abuse scandal and boundary changes.

The reign of Harry Thomas ended under a cloud with 'angry council workers will walk out of their jobs in protest after bosses were awarded pay rises of thousands of pounds while theirs were frozen...'
From 2013 -https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/angry-council-workers-walk-out-2503378 

"Assets and customer care director Dilwyn Williams, education, skills and regeneration director Iwan Trefor Jones and planning and public protection director Dafydd Lewis had rises of £5,839 to £88,960.
Increases for 11 heads of service ranged from £1,042 to £5,094. For example the heads of social services and education saw their salaries rise by £3,311 from £72,200 to £75,511. The decision was taken by the council in June but staff say they weren’t told."

Dilwyn started off as a clerk for the former Caernarfon Council, then became Head of Accountancy for the new authority, then Strategic Resources Director, Corporate Director and finally CEO, where he has held the position for the last seven years.

His tenure as CEO began when the Westminster government austerity cuts really began to bite.
Some in the council have praised his work over the period, making £millions of cuts to vital services and jobs, the closing of community schools and youth clubs, the increasing Council Tax rises. Less services for even more money. This in the main under the dictates of the westminster government and the austerity measures first imposed by Cameron and Osbourne.

Under his stewardship, serious failings with the council have been highlighted in many reports, including five Ombudsman for Wales investigations. These include breaches of Human Rights, interference with the social services complaints process and so called 'independent' investigations, ignorance of Law, policy and procedures and basically council officer's behaving very badly, indeed.

There have been data breaches, censoring of personal information, misrepresenting evidence, misinformation and fabrication.

There was the case of the social worker being suspended by Gwynedd council for two and a half years until she won her Employment Tribunal. More on that here -

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5cf61dd7e5274a0771578036/1600022.2017_Mr_S_Parry_v_Gwynedd_Council_-_CORRECTED_JUDGMENT_AND_REASONS.pdf

Then there was the Employment Tribunal which found against the council for their dismissal of two local teachers - “extraordinary”, “ill-conceived”, and “emphatically wrong”.
More on that here - https://gwyneddsfailingcouncil.blogspot.com/2020/07/cyngor-gwynedd-council-extraordinary.html

Then along came the pandemic and a year of death, stress and change for all.

At a national and a local level Wales did well with the first lockdown and community spirit came to the fore. Some schools remained open to take the children of 'key workers'. People and organisations all rallied round and ensured medications were received and food parcels delivered to those in need.

Cyngor Gwynedd council kept things very close to their chests. Millions of pounds have been given out to local businesses for support during the pandemic whilst Councillors have complained of being left out of the decision making process -  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/gwynedd-councillors-say-were-shut-18705757
'One member claimed there was a 'lack of trust' in the ruling cabinet group'

Then came the issue of hotdesking and virtual locations and the Audit office raising concerns with travel expenses -  https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/eyebrows-raised-what-schools-agency-18716183

'While the council's decision to change the rules was aimed at saving around £290,000 a year, GwE - which is funded by North Wales authorities - saw its expenditure increase between 2017 and 2019.'

'An audit also found that mileage claims were not being checked properly, leading to one instance where an 800 mile claim submitted for an 80 mile journey was processed before the mistake was found'

Then there was the issue of the council's car pool when it was reported that some officers were using the vehicles inappropriately, publicised by the very obvious banner next to Morrison's supermarket in Caernarfon, that was quickly taken down by the council.

A review of the council's social services policies for those with Autism without a learning disability has been released though not yet published. It mentions the ring fenced monies that have been allocated for such services over the years and calls for immediate actions.

Statutory annual reports from some council departments are already late, with no dates announced for completion nor opportunity to scrutinise what has been a truly tumultous period.

At the time of Dilwyn's announcement to retire the news came that a former colleague of his, Lucille Margaret Hughes, had died. Miss Hughes was once the Director of Gwynedd social services during the North Wales Child Abuse scandal and presided over the sacking of a social worker who attempted to whistleblow the care home abuses.

Miss Hughes, also worked for CAIS and had been living in the grace and favour apartments at Penhyrn Castle for many years.